Prep football: Seminoles rout Cadets 48-20

September 28, 2013

WOODSFIELD - Monroe Central went with the rushing duo of Curtis Nixon and Levi Brown early and often as the twosome combined for 343 yards on 31 carries in a 48-20 victory over Fort Frye at Monroe Memorial Park Friday.

The Seminoles scored seven touchdowns in the game, five of which were accounted for by Nixon and Brown on the ground. Nixon also threw for the other two, hitting Jake Schurman and Zach Jorris on scoring strikes.

"We wanted to establish and get the running game going," said Monroe Central head coach Jay Circosta. "We felt if we got the running game going, which we did, they couldn't stop us.

"Levi, pound for pound, what an effort he gave, breaking tackle after tackle. Then Curtis started to get on track a little bit."

"It seemed like they could get the edge pretty easy on us," said Fort Frye head coach Eric Huck. "We were having trouble. We tried to adjust and they were hitting things up the middle. We just couldn't fix the mistakes all night long. It seemed like whatever we tried to take away, they had something else to answer with."

Fort Frye jumped out to early leads of 7-0 and 14-7. Tied up at 14-all after one quarter, Monroe Central took over, outscoring the Cadets 34-6 in the final three quarters.

Monroe Central accumulated 453 total yards of offense to Fort Frye's 258. Both teams turned the ball over twice and the Seminoles did not punt in the contest.

"A lot of offense tonight," Circosta said. "A lot of points on the board. Coach (Michael) Jorris did a great job calling the game and our kids executed.

"There's a lot of balance, and that's what I've been pleased with the last couple weeks."

For the second week in a row, Monroe Central lost a fumble on its opening possession which led to a touchdown.

The Seminoles coughed up the ball on their first drive, recovered by Fort Frye's Garrett Hall at the Monroe Central 36. Cadet QB Chandler Lang ran it the rest of the way, scoring on a 36-yard run to put Fort Frye on top early. Zach Prichard made the PAT to make it 7-0.

Two minutes later, the Seminoles answered. Two runs by Brown accumulated 19 yards and two runs by Nixon gained 20 before Brown reached the end-zone on a 25-yard burst. Lang appeared to have Brown stopped for a minimal gain on the play, but Brown was able to twist and keep his knees off the ground and run it in for a touchdown. The kick was missed, making it 7-6.

The offensive fireworks in the first quarter continued on Fort Frye's next possession.

Back-to-back pass completions by Lang, a 9-yarder to Derek Layton and an 11-yarder to Prichard made it 1st-and-10 at the Monroe Central 46. Two plays later, on 3rd-on-10, Lang found Terren Huck up the left sideline for a 44-yard gain. That led to Layton's 2-yard power run into the end-zone. Prichard's kick made it 14-7.

Again, the Seminoles responded quickly. A 41-yard carry by Brown put the ball at the Fort Frye 14-yard line, and after eight more yards were gained on a Brown hand-off, Nixon scampered six yards into the end-zone for a touchdown and then ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-all.

After the Seminoles' defense got a big stop, the offense started its next drive at its own 11.

No problem.

Runs of 28 and 29 yards by Nixon set up 1st-and-10 at the Fort Frye 13. A 7-yard carry by Brown set up Nixon's 5-yard touchdown run to put MC in front for the first time in the game. Nixon again ran in the 2-point attempt to make the score 22-14.

It looked like Fort Frye would strike right back, driving the ball into Monroe Central territory. But Lang's pass attempt on 3rd-and-9 was tipped by Brown and intercepted by Chase Carothers. Carothers returned it to the Fort Frye 33, setting up Nixon's 23-yard touchdown pass to Schurman. Fort Frye's Colten Shuster appeared to have Schurman covered well, but Schurman made a nice leaping catch and stayed in-bounds to get the score. The 2-point try failed this time, making it 28-14 at halftime.

A 12-yard touchdown run by Nixon and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Nixon to Jorris in the third quarter quickly put the game out of reach for the Cadets.

Lang would hit Prichard on a 1-yard touchdown strike late in the fourth quarter, but Monroe Central answered with a 15-yard TD run by Brown to make it 48-20.

"We're a good football team still," Huck said. "Our guys know that. We'll fix the mistakes and be right back at it."

Nixon was 6-for-9 throwing the ball for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Lang was 11-for-20 for 113 yards and a score. He also ran for 86 yards on 13 carries.

Terren Huck led all receivers with 74 yards on five catches.

The Seminoles improved to 3-2 overall, after starting out 0-2, and 3-0 in the Pioneer Valley Conference. It was the first loss of the season for the Cadets, who fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the PVC.

Monroe Central will be at Magnolia next week, while Fort Frye will travel to New Matamoras to take on Frontier.